But "the moment to decide" is upon
us. It is due time for this board of directors
to deliberate about the legislation it intends to propose to the 2012 General
Conference. It is up to this board of
directors to struggle with what is in the best interests of this general agency
as an existingpartof the current structure
of The United Methodist Church, and what is in the best interests of The United
Methodist Church as a whole, as it seeks to strengthen and
enhance its ecumenical and interreligious ministries.

Charge by the
General Secretary to the Board of Directors

of the

General Commission on Christian Unity and
Interreligious Concerns

of

The United Methodist Church

By the Rev. Dr. Stephen J. Sidorak, Jr.

Regarding Proposed
GCCUIC Legislation to the 2012 General Conference

March 31, 2011

Claremont United Methodist Church

Claremont School of Theology

Claremont, California

"For
surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare
and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." (Jeremiah 29:11, NRSV) While we do know exactly what "the plans" the
Lord has for us at GCCUIC, we are duly expectant and fully confident that the
Lord has only "plans for (our)
welfare and not for harm," in order "to give (us) a future with hope." In all that we say and do, these days, let us
be inspired by this biblical promise as we continue the tedious task of
considering and discussing, revising or drafting, debating and adopting
proposed legislation to the 2012 General Conference.

Like the author of Servant
Leadership, Robert K. Greenleaf, I consider myself to be "a student of
organization-how things get done, and a pursuer of wisdom-what works well in
practice." I am, therefore, an
unapologetic pragmatist. Thus, I made a
recommendation about a different way forward in contrast to the traditional way
The United Methodist Church has organized its ecumenical and interreligious
ministries.

Let me reiterate
my remarks at our last board meeting and amplify upon them to the end of making
the case for "folding GCCUIC into the Council of Bishops." What good would this do? I will "argue it out" for you once more.

It
would deepen the relationship between the ecumenical and interreligious staff
of The United Methodist Church and the membership of the Council of Bishops,
especially its Ecumenical Officer. It
would allow staff to attend dutifully to the ecumenical and interreligious
education and formation of bishops. It would help cultivate a culture of
undivided attention to things ecumenical and interreligious within the Council
of Bishops. It would encourage and build stronger connections to the annual
conferences. It would provide ecumenical
and interreligious staff direct access to Central Conference bishops
collectively and likely improve the prospects for deeper understanding and
greater cooperation worldwide. It would
lower somewhat the expectation (time and money) of ecumenical and
interreligious staff to be present and accounted for during countless
denominational meetings thereby granting them much more flexibility in
prioritizing their schedules, favoring ecumenical and interreligious meetings
and events over denominational ones.
It would empower staff to concentrate on our ecumenical and
interreligious vision and mission, not preoccupy them with ongoing
organizational maintenance and endless agency self-justification. It would reflect more clearly the structural
model used by our closest ecumenical partners, enable them to more readily
comprehend the manner in which our ecumenical and interreligious ministries are
structured and led and facilitate more felicitous conciliar and interreligious relationships. It would reduce the number of individuals
involved in governance, create a constructive alternative to "business as
usual" and represent a sincere attempt to be much better stewards of dwindling
financial resources, realizing an estimated cost savings of approximately one-half
million dollars per quadrennium.
It would afford The United Methodist Church the opportunity to lead
ecumenically and interreligiously with more than our money.

You have known now for over a year and a
half where I stand and why I have taken such a stand. I believe I have been attentive to your
concerns and questions and sensitive to your misgivings and reservations. No matter what this board decides, I pledge
to carry out the responsibilities of my office and serve you faithfully, as I
have tried to do these last two and a half years or so. I truly understand and completely respect the
fact that any decisions to be made are now in your hands. I am totally aware of this irrefutable
fact. I am cognizant, as well, of the
personal and/or professional self-interest at stake and the concomitant sacrifice
that could be required of you. Please do
not, even for a split second, entertain the thought that all this is lost on
me.

But "the moment to decide" is upon
us. It is due time for this board of directors
to deliberate about the legislation it intends to propose to the 2012 General
Conference. It is up to this board of
directors to struggle with what is in the best interests of this general agency
as an existingpartof the current structure
of The United Methodist Church, and what is in the best interests of The United
Methodist Church as a whole, as it seeks to strengthen and
enhance its ecumenical and interreligious ministries.

If we move in the new direction I
propose, take legislative action to effect this radical change and move into
what I believe is a brighter "future with hope," then you can be well-assured in
quadrennia ahead that the expertise developed and experience gained by current and
former GCCUIC board members will be tapped. It consists of an extraordinarily
rich reservoir of ecumenical and interreligious leadership potential that must
be periodically consulted and appropriately utilized.

In
my Ash Wednesday EcuMemo to you, I noted our need to gather together face to
face, to deliberate, discern and decide many things, including what shape the
future of GCCUIC might ultimately take. To
be sure, the legislative task at hand is complicated by a number of
contingencies, a measure of uncertainty and a degree of anxiety. There will be downright contradictory options
before us. Still, I think we can walk
and chew gum at the same time, maybe even as we rub our stomachs and pat our
heads! We must master on site the capacity
to practice bricolage-the assemblage of the "odds and ends," and "bits
and pieces" of the legislative minutia essential for the advancement of
ecumenical and interreligious ministries within The United Methodist
Church. Again, we have to ready ourselves for a variety of mutually
exclusive possibilities, the legislation to address them, while remaining open
to where the Holy Spirit might be leading us, and others, in the days, months and years ahead.

I
commend our Standing Committee on General Conference Legislation for preparing
us to engage the complex nature of proposed legislation and I acknowledge my
gratitude for its efforts in this regard.
I offer my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Glen Messer, our Assistant General
Secretary, for his succinct delineation of a methodical process for us to
contemplate the legislative proposals presented to us. It is a process that leaves us leeway for other
proposals that may emerge from this meeting. The process has been designed to permit maximum
individual input into proposed legislation and allow for the full participation
of GCCUIC board members in it, without the undue influence of the bishops on
our board or any excessive intervention by your executive staff. I must also express my deep appreciation to
our President, Bishop Swenson, for her willingness to lead us through this
process.

We
are here to sharpen our focus on the particular mandate given specifically to
GCCUIC to care for "Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns" as is clearly reflected
in the very name of this general agency of our church. Our sharpened focus must remain on the unique
work entrusted to us for the ecumenical and interreligious ministries of The
United Methodist Church. Anything we
propose legislatively should fit squarely into these two unalterable categories-Christian
Unity and Interreligious Concerns.

I
now call upon Tracy Merrick, GCCUIC board member, Chair of our Finance
Committee and member of the Council of Bishops' Task Group on Council
Leadership, to add his own perspective to the one I have already outlined.

The
theme chosen for this meeting, taken from the prophet Jeremiah, provides us
with a "blessed assurance" that all will be well-no matter what we think or how
we feel-right now. I trust in the Lord, as I know you do. I find comfort in that trust, too, as I know
you do. There is no doubt in my mind,
nor finally, any restlessness in my heart, that the Lord who makes such
promises as these, of "plans for (our) welfare and not for harm," will not also
lead us into "a future with hope." This
is the Lord's precious gift to us, "to give (us) a future with hope."

Let
us rejoice in this time we have together.
But even now, let us lay down all of our many GCCUIC and General
Conference worries and burdens and lift up in prayer all the amazing and
exciting plans the Lord has for us ecumenically and interreligiously,
absolutely convinced that they are only "plans for (our) welfare." No wonder, then, we can be bold to believe
together in "a future with hope."